GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Need help pea-ing

sueb · 09-08-2006, 06:24 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible

William L. Rose wrote:
In article ,
Dee wrote:

"William L. Rose" wrote in news:rosefam-
:

I have a couple of questions for pea growers. I've only tried growing
them for a few years now. At first my problem was a lack of sun, and
then it was a lack of heat. This year they have six good hours of
sun/day and there is no escaping the heat. I still have some questions
about them.

Numero uno, it seems that I only have peas "setting" in the growing
zone, i.e. the head of the vine. I can't remember seeing any new sets in
the body of the vine. Is this typical?

Numero two-o, the largest of my peas have turned straw color from their
base up, for five or six feet. Four or five have one or two feet of
green on top but one only has three inches or so. I have three starter
plants (these are bush not pole) that also show some browning of leaves.
I'm thinking this is a result of that blow torch week-end we had a
couple of weeks ago but logic is only as good as it's premise, so I
thought I'd ask.

Numero three-o, are they really such wretched producers? Mine have made
corn look like a wise investment. I deprive myself of sleep because I'm
out battling snails in the middle of the night, and irritating the
neighbors with the loud crunch, crunch, crunch of the snails (hunting
slugs is tolerated though). And all this for a miserable hand full of
peas? Call me fickle, but if this doesn't improve, it's going to be
"good-bye peas, hello pole beans".

They got their bed turned. They got composted. They got manured a couple
of times. They get plenty of water. They have plenty of little worm
buddies. What do I have to do to turn these babies on?

Don't know where you are located or what the temps have been like, nor what
kind of peas you are growing.

I have grown English peas every year for the past 15 years or so, and they
are my very favorite crop. They DO NOT like hot weather AT ALL, but they
can take frosts and freezes just fine. The trick is to plant them so that
they can bear before the heat fries them up. It also helps to plant a
variety that is supposedly more heat-tolerant, like Wando, or one that
matures quicker to avoid the hot weather.

Here in the midwest I plant my peas (usually Wando) around March 17 (St.
Patty's Day). I just water them in and leave them alone. I am able to
begin harvesting around Memorial Day, which is right around when it starts
getting too hot for them (80-85F or more).

As for manure or fertilizer, they seem to benefit from a bit of manure but
not a lot. Too much nitrogen and the pea production drops and the bugs
come out in force (especially aphids). Peas fix their own nitrogen from
the air anyway, so it's not like they really need it.

Right about when the peas are frying up is when the soil is warm enough to
plant beans. After harvesting all the peas, I'll pull up the spent vines
and plant beans (pole or bush) in the same place. Beans can't take cold,
but love the heat. This way I get one crop of peas and one of beans.

I've never had problems with slugs on peas, although I plant them along the
perimeter of my garden so that they can climb up the fence. That keeps
them off the ground where slugs can't get at them. I have successfully
cured slug problems around my hostas using crushed up egg shells sprinkled
around the plants, so that might help in this situation also.

Dee

Dee, you are a font of information. I'm in northern California where the
summers have been cool since '99. The beans were great producers last
year. This year the beans and the peas have definitly been struggling.
I guess I'll back up and give it another try now that days are 80F/50F.
I'm not a gardener yet, but I keep workin' on it. Thank you for the
heads up.

Bill,

I'm also in northern California. I plant snow peas in the spring from
seed and always get a bumper crop. Over the years I've stopped
planting the vegetables that either don't produce heavily, or that no
one really likes to eat, or that have a lot of pest/health issues. The
snow peas are in the rotation!

Susan B.